PRO14 Preview: Saturday
Three games take place on Saturday as the PRO14 begins its festive period with the teams going head-to-head in the intra-country derbies.
Benetton face Zebre before Edinburgh battle Glasgow and Connacht and Ulster finish Saturday’s proceedings. Click here for our preview of the 1872 Cup clash between Edinburgh and the Warriors.
Benetton v Zebre
Benetton Rugby prepare to host Italian rivals Zebre in the first of their three derby fixtures of the season.
Jayden Hayward lines up at full-back for the home side while Angelo Esposito and Monty Ioane start on the wings. Ignacio Brex and Alberto Sgarbi will form the centre combination.
The half-backs are Tito Tebaldi at scrum-half and Marty Banks at fly-half.
In the forwards, the front-row will consist of Nicola Quaglio and Tiziano Pasquali, who are the two props, while Tomas Baravalle starts at hooker.
Alessandro Zanni packs down next to captain Dean Budd in the second-row while Whetu Douglas and Abraham Steyn are the two flankers and Robert Barbieri starts at number eight.
Meanwhile, 10 Italian internationals will be lining up in Zebre's starting XV.
Several of them return to the squad after missing last Saturday's trip to Gloucester, who they faced in the Challenge Cup.
Zebre captain and inside centre Tommaso Castello, number eight Renato Giammarioli and Italian-English lock David Sisi are amongst the experienced players who return to the run-on side.
The teams:
Benetton: 15 Jayden Hayward, 14 Angelo Esposito, 13 Ignacio Brex, 12 Alberto Sgarbi, 11 Monty Ioane, 10 Marty Banks, 9 Tito Tebaldi, 8 Robert Barbieri, 7 Abraham Steyn, 6 Whetu Douglas, 5 Dean Budd (c), 4 Alessandro Zanni, 3 Tiziano Pasquali, 2 Tomas Baravalle, 1 Nicola Quaglio
Replacements: 16 Hame Faiva, 17 Federico Zani, 18 Cherif Traore, 19 Federico Ruzza, 20 Marco Barbini, 21 Edoardo Gori, 22 Ian McKinley, 23 Tommaso Benvenuti
Zebre: 15 Matteo Minozzi, 14 Mattia Bellini, 13 Tommaso Boni, 12 Tommaso Castello (c), 11 Giulio Bisegni, 10 Carlo Canna, 9 Marcello Violi, 8 Renato Giammarioli, 7 Johan Meyer, 6 Maxime Mbandà, 5 George Biagi, 4 David Sisi, 3 Dario Chistolini, 2 Oliviero Fabiani, 1 Andrea Lovotti
Replacements: 16 Tommaso D’Apice, 17 Cruze Ah-Nau, 18 Roberto Tenga, 19 Jacopo Sarto, 20 Derick Minnie, 21 Guglielmo Palazzani, 22 Serafin Bordoli, 23 Ciaran Gaffney
Venue: Stadio Monigo
Kick-off: 15:00 local (14:00 GMT)
Referee: Marius Mitrea (Italy)
Assistant referees: Manuel Bottino (Italy), Andrea Piardi (Italy)
TMO: Alan Falzone (Italy)
Connacht v Ulster
Tiernan O’Halloran is back in the Connacht side at full-back and is joined by Niyi Adeolokun and Matt Healy, who scored four tries in Connacht’s win over Brive last weekend.
Jack Carty and Kieran Marmion form the half-back pairing after Marmion was rested in the win against Brive.
In the pack, Denis Coulson comes in at loosehead in place of the injured Denis Buckley. He is joined in the front-row by hooker Shane Delahunt and Finlay Bealham at tighthead.
In the back-row, flanker Jarrad Butler returns from an injury he picked up in the victory at home to Munster in October.
Meanwhile, Darren Cave will become the sixth Ulster player to reach a double century of caps, when he runs out in this fixture.
Cave, who made his first appearance for the province against the Border Reivers in April 2007, will start at inside centre, where he will be paired in midfield with Louis Ludik.
In the back three, Andrew Trimble returns to the starting XV on the left wing, with Craig Gilroy retained on the right and Jacob Stockdale shifting to full-back.
Peter Nelson is named to start at fly-half, alongside scrum-half John Cooney, who will make his first return to Galway since joining Ulster from Connacht last summer.
In the pack, there are starts for Ulster Academy pair Matthew Dalton and Nick Timoney at lock and number eight respectively.
Robbie Diack joins Dalton in the engine room, with captain Iain Henderson and Sean Reidy making up the back-row with Timoney.
In the front row, props Andy Warwick and Wiehahn Herbst will scrum down either side of hooker John Andrew.
Former Ireland U20 fly-half Johnny McPhillips, who has featured prominently in the Ulster A team's recent British & Irish Cup wins, is in line for his first senior appearance as he is included among the replacements.
Paul Marshall and Rob Lyttle will provide the additional back-line cover, while Adam McBurney, Schalk van der Merwe, Ross Kane, Matthew Rea and Clive Ross are the forward options from the bench.
The teams:
Connacht: 15 Tiernan O’Halloran, 14 Niyi Adeleokun, 13 Bundee Aki, 12 Tom Farrell, 11 Matt Healy, 10 Jack Carty, 9 Kieran Marmion, 8 John Muldoon (c), 7 Jarrad Butler, 6 Eoghan Masterson, 5 Quinn Roux, 4 Ultan Dillane, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Shane Delahunt, 1 Denis Coulson
Replacements: 16 Tom McCartney, 17 Peter McCabe, 18 Conor Carey, 19 James Cannon, 20 Naulia Dawai, 21 James Mitchell, 22 Eoin Griffin, 23 Darragh Leader
Ulster: 15 Jacob Stockdale, 14 Craig Gilroy, 13 Louis Ludik, 12 Darren Cave, 11 Andrew Trimble, 10 Peter Nelson, 9 John Cooney, 8 Nick Timoney, 7 Sean Reidy, 6 Iain Henderson (c), 5 Robbie Diack, 4 Matthew Dalton, 3 Wiehahn Herbst, 2 John Andrew, 1 Andy Warwick
Replacements: 16 Adam McBurney, 17 Schalk van der Merwe, 18 Ross Kane, 19 Matthew Rea, 20 Clive Ross, 21 Paul Marshall, 22 Johnny McPhillips, 23 Rob Lyttle
Venue: The Sportsground
Kick-off: 19:35 GMT
Referee: Mike Adamson (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Joy Neville (Ireland), Kieran Barry (Ireland)
TMO: Leo Colgan (Ireland)